Such conveying systems are known and are utilized for conveying all sorts of products in a large number of different environments. Often, the known systems have mats which are built up from plastic modules which usually have inwardly extending chambers with a concave, circular cylindrical surface, while a radius of the concave, circular cylindrical surface substantially corresponds to a radius of a return guide of the conveying system, so that the chamber, when circulating around the return guide, fits snugly on the return guide.
Different variants of the known systems are on the market, which are provided with substantially roller-shaped, often rotatably disposed, return guides with different radii. For instance, a first known system has a return guide with a radius of approximately 50 mm and modules with inwardly extending chambers with a radius of approximately 50 mm, and a second known system has a return guide with a radius of approximately 60 mm and modules with inwardly extending chambers with a radius of approximately 60 mm.
Also, systems are known having at least one return guide, wherein the at least one return guide is not rotatably disposed. Such return guides are often nose-shaped, instead of roller-shaped, and comprise substantially circular cylindrical guide surfaces for guiding plastic modules of a conveyor mat.
A drawback of the known systems is that when the modules of the mat are worn, the mat has to be replaced by a mat with modules having chambers with concave, circular cylindrical surfaces that correspond to the radii of a guide surface of the return guides.
When a supplier of conveyor mats wishes to deliver to users of different variants of the known systems, the supplier must be able to supply different mats with different modules. This has as a drawback, for example, that at suppliers, this may lead to large stocks consisting of many different modules and mats. Further, this may for instance lead to longer delivery times in that a supplier does not have the proper modules and/or mats in stock, and/or in that the logistics have thereby become complex. This is not desirable because it may, for instance, cause a production line, of which the conveying system forms a part, to remain out of use for a long period of time. It is also a drawback that a manufacturer of plastic modules, for the production of different modules with chambers of different dimensions, has to invest in different production means, such as different injection molding molds for the different modules with chambers of different dimensions. This can also lead to large stocks at the manufacturer's and/or in the distributive trade and, for instance, the delivery times from the manufacturer to one of his buyers can become longer.